Learning and Connecting at the 10th Biannual Hellbender Symposium
The 2024 Hellbender Symposium Logo
On a hot midsummer week in June, nearly a hundred researchers, managers and conservationists gathered on the grounds of Clemson University to share the latest updates and scientific advances in the study of the Eastern hellbender and its allies, the Chinese and Japanese giant salamanders. First established in 2003, the Hellbender Symposium was a biannual tradition until 2019, after which the Covid pandemic and a bit of institutional inertia forced the meeting into a long hiatus. When the meeting reconvened in 2024, a lot had changed in the hellbender research and conservation world and there was much news to share!
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the symposium, the keynote featured a panel of experts who had been involved in hellbender research and conservation from the very earliest days when little was known about the species. They discussed how the state of the science had evolved, the importance of the close-knit and collaborative community, and what the future may hold for the species. Attendees came from every state in the hellbender’s range, and even from as far away as Japan. They included academics and students, State and federal agency employees, and nonprofit conservation organizations. All of the staff of the Hellbender WLFW program were able to attend, and some even contributed talks and posters to the event. There were many new faces in 2024, but also many happy reunions between long-time colleagues who had not been able to get together in person since the last symposium five years ago.
Presentations over the three day meetings covered a wide range of topics, from reproductive ecology, to distribution and status, to captive propagation and reintroduction, and more. Particularly interesting to many attendees was a talk by Jeromy Applegate of the US Fish and Wildlife Service concerning the latest updates on the ongoing effort to determine whether the hellbender will be listed under the Endangered Species Act. Interactive workshop sessions featured topics including group discussions about the need for a rangewide monitoring plan and strategies for success in habitat restoration and reintroduction. The monitoring plan workshop helped to organize many participants around the need for a structured process and resulted in a set of next steps to be voluntarily undertaken by members of the community. For those who were able to join, the final day’s field trip to go hellbendering in the mountains of Western North Carolina was perhaps the crowning moment of the event.
And of course, much fun was had by all during the social and networking interludes. It has often been noted that the hellbender research and conservation community is a uniquely close-knit and congenial professional group, and the revived symposium provided a much needed opportunity for these folks to reconnect and reinvigorate their passion for their shared work. Before the meeting concluded, several folks volunteered to help organize the next symposium, to be held in Tennessee in 2026. We hope to see you there!
